A golden triangle to guide all project management that is common sense, yet so commonly forgotten

Projects, no matter how big or small, should be treated with care and professionalism. This is a reflection of the image of the project-owner and is also a way to ensure the project will generate a desirable ROI.

First and foremost, the project should command the highest “quality” so that it will stand out from the crowd and be noticed by the target audience. Quality is, of course, referred to as the craft of the content but is more than that. Quality, in fact, consists of everything along the dimension of all five senses that will invite, involve, and interact with the audience. The quality should reflect and reinforce the caliber of the project-owner as well as its brand personality.

Yet there is no unlimited resource in the world of business. Quality has to be balanced by “cost”, which is the second component of the golden triangle. Many people mistaken that it is always desirable to reduce the cost to its bare bones. This is nothing but a major misconception. Managing cost is not about cutting down the cost blindly. Compromising the quality for the sake of lowering the cost can lead to disaster, especially for luxury brands. Not to mention that consumers these days are very discerning and they know how much they should spend on those brands that are not serious about their own quality.

The last component of the golden triangle is “time”. A deadline is called a deadline because it is worthless to produce something of superb quality at great value if it misses the targeted launch date. Again, timing is more than just delivering the project on time. Timing will have an impact on the cost and the quality. To build in ample and realistic timing to complete a project is easier said than done. Without clearly figuring out the objective and a workable methodology prior to project commencement could be counter-productive.

To reach the optimum point of this golden triangle, one must be able to adopt a good process and structured approach, yet at the same time be able to respect and engage all parties involved, which is another manifestation of “Magic meets Logic”.